Nothing Personal
by FringieDemigod
Summary: AU Prompt: Skye is thrilled when her best friend and former college roommate Jemma announces that Fitz has finally proposed and she wants Skye as her Maid of Honor. She just wasn't expecting the Best Man to be so surly, nor to end up in a hohostage situation on the flight to the wedding. It's just as well that Grant Ward seems to take his responsibilities as seriously as she does.


**A/N: I saw it and I wrote it. I didn't exactly follow everything from the prompt. Very very very very special thanks to my buddy J for the general plotline and various ideas.**

Skye was very happy that day. Her best friend and former college roommate called her yesterday, from Britain, to tell her that her Scottish boyfriend had proposed to her and she wanted her to be her Maid of Honor. Having planned her adoptive father Phil's marriage, Skye was also invited to plan the wedding with the Best Man, whom she has never met before. All she knew that he was an American named Grant Ward.

Her backpack bouncing behind her, Skye hopped onto the airplane. A flight from JFK to Heathrow shouldn't take too long, so she only brought a book to read. As she reached her seat, she hurled the backpack off her back and attempted to shove it into the compartment above head. Sadly, after a couple of failed attempts, Skye couldn't tuck her backpack into the compartment.

"Here, let me help you," a man took her backpack and placed it into the compartment. He had somewhat of a smile on and he was way taller than her.

It took Skye a couple of moments before she uttered a "thanks" to the man; he was very attractive, and his voice was mesmerizing.

"Oh— Where are my manners? I'm Skye. Skye Coulson."

"Skye Coulson?" the man tilted his head. His voice didn't show much interest, but Skye could tell he was shocked or at least taken by surprise. "You're Skye Coulson?"

Skye narrowed her eyes with her mouth slightly agape. "Do I know you?"

"Not yet," the man said, holding out a hand. "I'm Grant Ward."

Skye took it quickly and shook. "Small world, huh?" she grinned, "we sit right next to each other on the plane and we're going to the same wedding."

"Yeah. You're a friend of Jemma Simmons'?"

"Yep. Wouldn't have chosen me to be the Maid of Honor for nothing."

Grant nodded. "I'm the, uh, the Best Man," he hesitated, wondering if he should tell her as they both already knew. "I used to go to the same high school as Leo Fitz."

Half an hour later, the plane took off. Skye took out her book and started reading when she noticed that the man sitting beside him didn't look like he wanted to talk. Her book was George Orwell's "1984", and she was halfway through the story when one of the flight attendants stopped by in the aisle with a trolley.

"Can I get you anything?" she said, staring down at Grant with hooded eyes and a seductive smile. Her finger went up to fondle with her brown curls. Grant smiled uneasily and motioned at the bottle of coke on the trolley. On the other hand, Skye had noticed the unlikely tone of the attendant and so she placed down her book slowly, staring up at the woman. Her nametag read "Lorelei".

The attendant grabbed the bottle of coke and poured it into a plastic cup leisurely, her hand gently squeezing the cup.

"There you go, handsome." Lorelei batted her eyes as she placed the cup down. "Just so you know," her eyes darted towards the washrooms at the end of the aisle, "there's a free compartment over there."

Grant blushed. "Uhh…" He turned his head to look at Skye, who titled her head.

"I have a girlfriend," he stated, grabbing Skye's hand. Knowing what he was doing, Skye relaxed and smirked at the attendant, who huffed and turned away, pushing the trolley further down the aisle.

Grant let go of her hand the second Lorelei was out of sight. "I'm sorry," he said in advance, "I didn't expect—"

"Chill," smiled Skye, "I'll be your pretend girlfriend for the coming hour and a half."

"Thanks," Grant managed a grin. Skye was taken by surprise; she didn't expect him to be this person. It was as if his emotionless, robot side was only a jacket and he was taking it off for her.

"We should get to know each other," Skye suggested, "since we're a pretend couple."

Grant nodded. "What's your full name?"

"Skye Melinda Coulson. I was an orphan until my dad adopted me. I don't have any siblings but I have a dog."

"Oh," Grant tilted his head interestedly. "My full name's Grant Douglas Ward, I have two brothers and a sister and I have a cat."

The two started chatting and soon enough they were stuck to each other like Velcro. The apparent reason would be because of Lorelei coming back to the aisle multiple times hoping to change his mind, so when either needed to go to the washroom, the other followed. However, as Grant washed his hands while Skye was waiting outside the washroom, he knew it was more than that. The girl's smile had moved his heart, and it was impossible to look at her as "only the Maid of Honor" afterwards.

It was about half an hour's time from landing. Skye and Grant were cuddling on Skye's suggestion and Lorelei had stopped pacing up and down the aisle. The PA system of the airplane went on and to Skye and everyone else's surprise, it wasn't the voice of the pilot or the co-pilot.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please remain calm. After all, my buddies and I are only here to take your valuables and money!" Skye held in the urge to scream as two men a couple of rows in front of them stood up and started pointing guns.

"You don't mind if we take a couple of hostages too, do you?" the voice in the PA system continued as the two men started to aim their guns at the women and children. "Ladies and the children first."

The ladies and children in the plane stood up and followed the orders given by the terrorists as they gathered into a small group by the cabin door. Naturally, some refused, but were all forced to join the little group, which included several female flight attendants. The only woman who didn't listen to the compelling demands was Skye. One of the terrorists approached Grant's seat and was about to point a gun at her when Grant stood up suddenly, pushing the terrorist back. His fist went for the terrorist's eye and the man yelled in pain as he stumbled backwards.

"You can't hurt her!" he shouted, his frame towering over the terrorist.

The other one pointed the gun at him rather than the group of women and children and narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Grant and Skye shared a look before Grant turned around again. "She's pregnant."

Gasps came from the terrorist, a couple of ladies behind them and the remaining men. Nonetheless, Grant was pushed out of the way and Skye was dragged into the aisle, the other terrorist shoving the gun into her temple.

"No!" barked Grant, "Let go of her! Let go of her right now!"

"Are you even together?" the terrorist huffed. Grant noticed his Irish accent.

"Of course we're together!" Grant shouted, "Have you _not_ seen us the past few hours? I've been cuddling her! And the baby!"

The terrorist snorted. "Fine, I won't hurt your _precious_ girlfriend," he dragged the tip of the gun from her head to her stomach, "but how much would you give to save that 'baby' of yours?"

The plane jerked abruptly and the terrorist lost his balance, falling over onto the ground. Snatching the perfect moment, Grant reached for Skye and shoved her behind him, glaring at the two terrorists. "One more step and I will beat you up!" Grant almost arched his back like a furious cat trying to defend territory. Skye quickly drew out her phone and dialed 999, ignoring the fact that the signal would affect the plane.

"Now drop your guns!" Grant hissed.

"Or what, superman?" The Irish terrorist pointed his gun at his torso.

"Or this," Grant charged and grabbed the terrorist's fist, twisting it around and letting the gun drop into his palm. He then locked his arm around the terrorist's neck and pointed the gun at the other terrorist. The tiny flash from the Irish terrorist's neck marked the existence of an army knife, pressed into the flesh and millimeters from cutting it. The other terrorist dropped his gun and Grant beckoned the ladies and children to return to their seats. Meanwhile, Skye had just hung up; the local police were waiting at the airport right now.

The events were followed by the landing of the plane and the surrender of the terrorists' leader. Skye and Grant were still shaken up by the incident but they were both fine as they leaned onto each other while exiting the plane. Skye pulled Grant to a halt before they reached customs.

"Thanks," started Skye, "for saving my life back there."

Grant blushed a little, his hand brushing the back of his neck. "Ah, don't mention it. I'm just doing the right thing, it's nothing personal."

Skye scoffed loudly. "You did _not_ just say that. It wasn't personal?"

The two stopped in their tracks and they eyes met again. Their expressions softened as Skye started to feel something she hadn't felt for a long time. It was the same feeling when she heard she was going to be adopted; it was the feeling of finally finding a home.

Before Skye knew it, Grant had wrapped her arms around her waist and lifted her up to eye level so they could share a kiss.

"I guess we just honored the old tradition," muttered Grant as he placed Skye down slowly.

"Guess so," Skye replied, mesmerized in Grant's sparkling brown eyes.

Grant reached his hand out, hoping that she would take it. "We don't have to worry about our partnership then?"

"No worries, Grant Douglas Ward," Skye grabbed his hand and said.


End file.
